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The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
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December 31, 2006 First Sunday of Christmas Luke 2:41-52 New Years Eve, 2006: Traditionally, New Years Eve is a time to take an assessment of ones own life. As this calendar year gives way to the next, it is a time to refocus; a time to consider the path that we’re on; and perhaps to readjust. It is a time for “New Years Resolutions:” “I resolve to…(fill in the blank)…watch less TV…cook more healthy food…drop a few pounds…etc. It’s a time when many people ask introspective (inward looking) questions: Where am I now? Who have I become in 2006? And more to the point, and perhaps a more difficult question (oft overlooked), “Where am I supposed to be?” To me, herein is the difficulty…where we are supposed to be…or who we are supposed to be. While we seek out renewal, or value in life, or satisfaction with the way things are going, and while we try to fix our problem areas by making resolutions…it seems that we may be missing something… I am struck by this story here in the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel, about Jesus when he was twelve years old. I am impressed that when he was only 12 years old, he seemed to know—with such conviction—just where he is supposed to be, and what his life is to be about. “Why” he asks, “were you searching for me [mom]? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Literarily, there seems to be stark contrast between Jesus and his parents, Mary and Joseph. Jesus who knows were he needs to be while Mary and Joseph search for three days before going to the temple (I believe there is an ironic symbolism about going to the temple—the Lord’s house last—when seeking Jesus). Oh, but for Jesus it is so clear! With both of these stories, one about Samuel and one about Jesus, a minister can’t help but think about his own journey into the ministry. I’m your pastor, so you probably don’t think very often about how difficult a decision this was to enter the ministry. I have often found myself telling people, when asked how I knew that I was supposed to be a pastor, “I knew it, but I didn’t know that I knew it.” I believe this is true about all of us…I believe that we know, at some level, where we belong. The problem is that we sometimes don’t know that we know. That is perhaps a confusing way to say that God does have a place for you. God does have a meaning and a purpose for your life. However…we need something—something no “New Year’s resolution” on our part will ever accomplish. We need something to close the Gap between what we know and what we know. So that we can become the realization not of what we want, but of what God wants. We need for our God to move from the periphery of our experience, to the center of our existence. Think about it for a minute, what does it mean to have a god? A god is something that you center your whole life around. That’s what it means to have a god. I don’t know about you, but I am envious of Jesus in this story. I wish I could have that clarity of purpose and meaning. Good news—it is possible…when we see this twelve year old Jesus…we already see someone who would not hold anything back from us. In Jesus Christ we gain access to our God who says, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Brothers and sisters, as we enter into this New Year, and before we make our own changes, let us first ask our God in humility to change us. For it is not by anything we do, that we will ever find true satisfaction and fulfillment, but by God making us what we are meant to be. And so, by asking God to come to the center of our lives we open ourselves up to be changed, not by our own strength, but by the hand of God. Gracious Father, You have revealed yourself to us through you Son, Jesus Christ. And through baptism you have called us your own. Yet, in spite of your love and your light and your truth, it is so easy for us to loose sight of you (even though you are always right here). Help us Father to come back to you. Take hold of our lives that we might in turn cling to you. Give us the clarity of Christ, the conviction, and the faith that comes through our love of your precious Son. In His name we pray. Amen. -------------------- Joshua W. Magyar, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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